After Yelu Hongji's hand-in-hand teaching, Yelu Yanxi's imperial skills became more and more mature, and after the ancestors and grandchildren decided to control the Western Xia, Yelu Yanxi got up and said goodbye.

As soon as he returned to the Taisun Mansion, Yelu Zhangnu hurriedly came to report.

"Your Royal Highness, news has come from the Jurchen tribes, and all the ministries have complained that the price of ginseng is too low and they are unwilling to sell ginseng."

"Complaining about the low price of ginseng?"

Yelu Yanxi frowned.

Nowadays, the price of ginseng is expensive and it is known to the whole world, after the rumors that the royal family of the Great Song Dynasty bought thousand-year-old ginseng, coupled with the large number of ginseng used by doctors in the Great Song Dynasty, the price of ginseng has risen again and again, especially the ginseng of the previous year is very valuable, especially the thousand-year-old ginseng is even more difficult to find, and it is not necessarily possible to buy it if you have money.

Although the Jurchens live between the white mountains and black waters, they are not isolated from the world, and the value of ginseng has naturally reached the ears of the Jurchens, but the ginseng of the Great Song Dynasty is very valuable, and the price of ginseng in the Jurchen land is as cheap as grass.

"In the opinion of the following officials, the price of ginseng is too suspended, it is better to increase the purchase price of ginseng from the Jurchen departments to appease the hearts of the Jurchens, anyway, there will be no more money." Jerodunu proposed.

The price of ginseng between the Liao merchants and the Great Song Dynasty was too different, resulting in repeated prohibitions on ginseng smuggling, and the ginseng collected by the Liao merchants was extremely bleak.

Yelu Yanxi waved his hand and said: "We must not increase the purchase price of ginseng, once we retreat, we will definitely let the Jurchen departments gain an inch, increase the price by 30% today, and double it in the future, can we all be satisfied." ”

Nowadays, among the millions of orders in the Great Song Dynasty, the proportion of ginseng is very large, and once the profits are given to the Jurchen tribes, it will damage his interests.

"Then the opinion of the Taisun!" Jerodenu asked.

Ginseng is a large part of Da Song's million-dollar orders, and if they can't deliver it on time, they will lose a lot of money.

"Order the Jurchen ministries to crack down on ginseng smuggling, but anyone who buys and sells ginseng without permission will be severely punished! When no one buys the ginseng from the Jurchen tribes, the Jurchen tribes naturally beg to sell it to me and so on. Yelu Yanxi said coldly.

Moreover, Yelu Yanxi studied the emperor's mental arts, the price of ginseng was too expensive, once the Jurchen tribes controlled the interests of ginseng, I am afraid that the various tribes would rise rapidly, which would pose a threat to the rule of the Liao State, which was the reason why Yelu Yanxi had been suppressing the Jurchen tribes.

Therefore, it is impossible to raise the price, and the benefits of ginseng cannot be shared among the Jurchen tribes in any case.

"Xia Guan understands!"

Yelu Zhangnu's face turned grim.

With the issuance of Yelu Yanxi's order, the situation in Huining Prefecture and other large farms was tense, and the merchants of the Jurchen tribes were searched the most severely.

All of a sudden, the number of merchants who went to the Jurchen tribes to smuggle ginseng was greatly reduced, and there was only one seller of Jurchen ginseng, that is, the Liao merchants supported by Taisun Yelu Yanxi.

"What? This ginseng strain is at least 300 years old, and it is worth only 70 silver dollars! In the Huining Prefecture Field, Wanyan said angrily.

This is a three-hundred-year-old ginseng, and he and a group of Jurchen warriors took a huge risk to pick it and returned, and the price given by the Liao merchants was only worth seventy silver dollars, one silver dollar was only worth a hundred yuan, and seventy silver dollars were equivalent to seven yuan. This price is even lower than before.

The shopkeeper of the Liao merchant opened his eyes and said nonsense: "The Wanyan warriors don't know, the Song and Liao battles before, resulting in a large backlog of ginseng, which caused the price to drop sharply, but for the sake of the Wanyan warriors, the maximum is seventy-five yuan of silver coins." ”

"It's nonsense, who doesn't know that Da Song has placed an order of millions of guan and purchased a large amount of ginseng, how can there be a backlog of ginseng!" After Wanyan Agu's beating, a strong young man scolded angrily, he was Wu Qimai, the fourth brother of Wanyan Aguta.

The shopkeeper of Liao Shang was unmoved and said: "This is the price in Huining Prefecture." ”

"Deal!"

Wanyan nodded helplessly, and then handed over the three-hundred-year-old ginseng in his hand and took the seventy-five yuan silver coin.

Walking out of the Liao merchant shop, the fourth brother Wu Qimai couldn't help but be indignant and said: "Second brother, the Liao merchant is so low in price, why do you still sell it to him." ”

Now there are more and more hunters looking for ginseng, and the ginseng of the previous year is becoming more and more difficult to find, and they often need to go to unknown and dangerous places to have the opportunity to obtain it.

Wanyan said helplessly: "I naturally know that the Liao merchants are lowering prices, but the Han merchants who cooperate with us are gone, and we have no choice but to sell to the Liao merchants." ”

The Jurchen tribes made a living from hunting, and the hunting tribes, although brave, were more difficult to grow than the farming and nomadic tribes because their food sources were unstable.

If you want to obtain living materials, you must trade with the outside world, especially in winter, when there is a shortage of food, you must trade with Liao merchants to buy food for the winter, so that the tribe can tide over the crisis.

This is the biggest weakness of the Jurchen tribes, and they must rely on the Liao Dynasty.

Wu Qimai was indignant, and after taking a turn in Huining Prefecture, he suddenly looked left and right, and said mysteriously: "Second brother, do you know the battle of Song and Liao, why did the Liao State retreat without a fight?" ”

"I heard that it was the Great Song Thousand Fleet that threatened Nanjing of the Liao Dynasty?" Wanyan Aguda said in his heart, the Song State is the largest trading country of ginseng, and the Jurchen tribes naturally pay special attention to the news of the Great Song Dynasty.

Wu Qimai nodded and said: "Yes, it is a thousand sea ships that threaten Nanjing, I heard that these sea ships can go to the South Seas thousands of miles away to trade, and naturally they can also come to the North Sea." ”

According to later investigations, the North Sea is another name for Lake Baikal, in fact, the sea area east of the Heilongjiang River is also called the North Sea.

"You mean, there are Song merchants who came to Beihai to trade ginseng?" Wan Yan exclaimed.

Wu Qimai shook his head and said: "It's not the Song merchants, there are even Goryeo merchants and Fusang merchants, now the Changbai Mountain ginseng has been known to the world, it is a hard currency traded with the Great Song Dynasty, and it is naturally very popular, and it is said that the purchase price of the maritime merchants can be much higher than that of the Liao merchants." ”

Wu Qimai inquired about the news and came one by one.

Wanyan Aguda suddenly said excitedly: "Okay! The Liao Dynasty can block my Jurchen land route, and it will not be able to block my Jurchen sea route, and with the Beihai sea route, the day of my Jurchen rise is just around the corner. ”

The Jurchen tribes sit on the ginseng treasure mountain, but they are poor, and the Jurchens are naturally extremely dissatisfied, and Wanyan Aguta naturally wants to change the status quo of the Jurchens, and the sea trade will be a good opportunity for the Jurchens to rise.

At that moment, Wanyan Aguda left Huining Prefecture and took Wu Qimai to Yongming Bay in Beihai, which is the only ice-free port in Beihai, and it also has a well-known name in later generations, Vladivostok.

When Wan Yan Aguda arrived at Yongming Bay, he saw a large number of ships parked on the bay.

In Yongming City, merchants from Goryeo, Fuso, and the Great Song Dynasty gathered, and their biggest purpose here was ginseng.

Although the price of ginseng here is not as high as the high price of Da Song, it is also in a reasonable range, and the goods are all available, as long as there is ginseng, you can exchange for any goods you want.

Silk, porcelain, grain, Great Song Dynasty medicines, even Goryeo and Fusang armor, weapons, if there is a thousand years of ginseng, it is not impossible for the Great Song Dynasty to have excellent armor.

Now the Great Song Dynasty is selling weapons in overseas countries, and the armor of the Great Song Dynasty is not difficult to find, in a word, ginseng can be exchanged for everything.

"Second brother! Get rich! ”

Hearing the offer of the maritime merchant, Wu Qimai said excitedly.

The price here is several times that of Liao Shang, and the more ginseng in the previous year, the higher the price.

Wanyan Agu looked at the prosperous ginseng trade, and said calmly: "No, what the Wanyan tribe needs is not money, but weapons!" ”

At that moment, Wanyan Aguda used half of the ginseng in his hand to buy a lot of armor and weapons, and brought the rest back.

"Second brother, why don't you sell these ginseng?" Wu Qimai was puzzled, the prices of these maritime merchants were already extremely fair, and they could not sell them directly to the Great Song Dynasty, and now they could only sell the foundation to the Liao merchants if they took it back.

Wanyan Agu shook his head and said, "We don't sell it to Liao Shang, but to His Royal Highness Taisun!" ”

"To His Royal Highness?" Wu begged to look at Wanyan Aguta in puzzlement, obviously he could earn a lot of gold and silver from the hands of the maritime merchants, but Wanyan Aguda gave up the money and went to dedicate it to His Royal Highness the Taisun behind the Liao merchants.

Wanyan Aguda sneered: "The price of ginseng purchased by the maritime merchants is high, and the Jurchen tribes will definitely come to sell it one after another, and the ginseng received by His Royal Highness Taisun must be insufficient, and now my Jurchen tribe still relies on the Liao Dynasty's snort, even if I exchange ginseng for more money, it is just a waste, it is better to take the opportunity to dedicate it to His Royal Highness Taisun, so that my Wanyan tribe can go further." ”

Wanyan Aguta thought of the cold ginseng trade in Huining Prefecture, and then looked at the ginseng trade in the flourishing Yongming Bay, and saw the hidden dangers at a glance, and Wanyan Aguta found the best choice for the Wanyan tribe from this hidden danger.

"Second brother is wise!"

Wu Qimai was immediately impressed.

While the other Jurchen tribes were thinking about how to make money with ginseng, Wanyan Aguta was thinking about how to strengthen the force of the Wanyan tribe and expand the power of the Wanyan tribe.

Sure enough, with the addition of maritime merchants, the ginseng purchased by Liao merchants became less and less, and it was simply impossible to meet the demand for millions of orders from the Great Song Dynasty.

"What? Didn't get the ginseng? Yelu Yanxi was furious.

In order to be able to collect ginseng, he has used the relationship of the imperial court to crack down on ginseng smuggling, but the effect is very small.

Yelu Zhangnu said helplessly: "It is said that the maritime merchants of the Song Kingdom, Goryeo, and Fusang directly purchased ginseng from Beihai, and the price was much higher than ours, and most of the Jurchen tribes sold ginseng to Beihai maritime merchants. ”

He didn't expect those merchants to be so cunning, the Liao State cracked down on ginseng smuggling on land, and they actually drove directly to the Beihai Sea, went deep into the Jurchen hinterland, and traded directly with the Jurchens, which was simply pervasive.

"Maritime!"

Yelu Yanxi immediately gritted his teeth, at that time, the Song and Liao confrontations, the Liao State was threatened by the Great Song Dynasty from the sea, and now his purchase of ginseng was destroyed by maritime merchants in the North Sea.

However, maritime merchants are good at pursuing profits, driving sea ships to and fro in the sea and Shanghai freely, Liao has no sailors, and the North Sea is far away, and Liao is also out of reach, so a large number of ginseng is lost from the sea.

"Your Royal Highness, there are maritime merchants making trouble in Beihai, and I'm afraid we won't be able to complete the ginseng order of the Great Song Dynasty." Yelu Zhangnu's brow furrowed.

The Jurchen tribes are not stupid, the price of Liao merchants is low, and the price of maritime merchants is high, so they naturally choose to sell ginseng to maritime merchants, and maritime merchants drive sea ships, the loading capacity is huge, and a large amount of ginseng can be transported away in one transaction, and the annual output of ginseng is extremely limited, and the maritime merchants buy more, and the Liao merchants buy less.

Yelu Yanxi sneered: "Since the Jurchen tribes don't know how to lift, then the emperor and grandson don't need to care about the face of the Jurchen tribes, and the order will go down, and distribute the ginseng orders of the Great Song Dynasty according to the population of the Jurchen tribes, so that they can be supplied with a fixed amount of ginseng, and if it can't be completed, then it will be compensated according to the price." ”

Yelu Yanxi's compensation according to the price was not according to the price of ginseng from Liao Shang, but the price of ginseng from the Great Song Dynasty, so as to make up for his losses.

"Taisun Yingming!" Jerujunu showed a hint of cruelty.

The Liao State overpowered the Song and Xia dynasties and became the most powerful country in the world, with millions of people controlling the strings, while the population of the Jurchen tribes was less than 10,000, so they naturally would not take the little Jurchen in their eyes.

At that moment, Yelu Yanxi divided the orders of the Great Song Dynasty equally among the Jurchen ministries, which suddenly stirred up a thousand waves, and the Jurchen ministries were in an uproar.

They have already sold all the ginseng to the maritime merchants at a high price, where is there any excess ginseng to pay tribute to His Royal Highness Taisun, according to the punishment plan given by His Royal Highness Taisun, if they can't hand over the ginseng, I'm afraid that even the money sold to the maritime merchants at a high price before will not be enough.

At present, some tribes of the Jurchen tribes hurried into the mountains to find ginseng for remedy, some tribes were panicked and asked for help, and some tribes were indignant and prepared to fight against the Liao State.

"Second brother is wise!"

In the Wanyan tribe, Wu Qimai looked at his second brother Aguda with admiration, and among the various departments, only the Wanyan tribe sat firmly on the Diaoyutai.

The Wanyan tribe easily completed the tribute task, which immediately made Yelu Yanxi greatly appreciated, and immediately rewarded the Wanyan tribe, and at the same time ordered the Wanyan tribe to crusade against the Jurchen tribe who dared to resist the Liao State.

Wanyan Agu was dressed in armor, looking extremely heroic, and said solemnly: "The Liao country is powerful, and the Jurchens can't fight against it, and now the Wanyan tribe has won the trust of the Taisun, and it is the opportunity for the Wanyan tribe to unify the Jurchens. ”

At that moment, Wanyan Aguta led the order to go on the expedition, and for the close tribes, he used the ginseng in his hands to help them tide over the difficulties, and for the hostile tribes, Wanyan Aguta united with the close tribes to crusade together.

In a short period of time, the Wanyan tribe has the momentum of unifying the Jurchens. (End of chapter)